Ok, so let's summarize the last 3 posts.
We have a bee trapped in a car that is not willing to stray from its unsuccessful path because past experience has proven that this path could lead to success. This bee is a metaphor for the many teachers who would like to blame the unmotivated students of their class on past teachers or the students themselves instead of looking at changing their own teaching methods to engage all learners.
We have a creative 12 year old girl who has lost interest in the education system but has figured out how to please her current teacher enough to get good grades. In a long drawn out sigh she states, "I love to learn, but school is boring."
Lastly, we have a group of at risk learners, kilometres away from pencil and paper tests and teachers' demands of silence, who collaborate to design and build a successful engineering project.
So where do we go from here? We alter our definition of education. The education system as a whole needs to engage their biggest clientele - the students. It is time to put the blame and frustrations away, to pack up the neat and tidy text book worlds, to accept and promote failures and all that we learn from them and listen to the kids of the world.
How do you engage all learners in your classroom from the good, organized student (who, if you are being honest with yourself, was never engaged in traditional schooling but just has a large drive to please), to those at risk boys who can never seem to sit still, to the gifted learner who is never challenged, to the struggling learner who is working at a different grade level?
Well, for me, the answer comes in the form of project based learning. This has been labelled many different titles in the past years but I will to refer to it as project based learning. Not to be confused with a summative project, where I teach all the core concepts and then the student applies them at the end of the unit. No, project based learning is a process where inquiry, experimentation, research, synthesis and curriculum content are all combined at a level that is individualized for the student and ends with a purpose and audience. The student plays an integral role in monitoring their learning and challenging themselves at a level that is appropriate to them. The instruction is driven based on student needs and catered to only those students who require it.
Alright, I am going to be honest here for a minute. I started project based learning because I was frustrated. I was frustrated with giving a test and making sure I covered all of the accommodations that were stated on students' individualized education plans. I was frustrated with sitting only with the struggling students, while the middle of the road students were left to defend by themselves. I was frustrated with not having a good understanding of where my students were at until the test, at which point it was too late since the unit was over. And who is kidding who here, my ADD could not handle the quiet, row structured environment. I was bored.
Viewing the student as a learner instead of as a product of the education system alters the focus of the classroom from one where we fill empty vessels with knowledge, knowledge, knowledge to one where we nurture curiosity and develop lifelong learners. This is the path that all teachers need to find if we are to fulfill the demands of the 21st century world. This is the path that will lead the bee from one of repeated frustrations to one of limitless possibilities.
We have a bee trapped in a car that is not willing to stray from its unsuccessful path because past experience has proven that this path could lead to success. This bee is a metaphor for the many teachers who would like to blame the unmotivated students of their class on past teachers or the students themselves instead of looking at changing their own teaching methods to engage all learners.
We have a creative 12 year old girl who has lost interest in the education system but has figured out how to please her current teacher enough to get good grades. In a long drawn out sigh she states, "I love to learn, but school is boring."
Lastly, we have a group of at risk learners, kilometres away from pencil and paper tests and teachers' demands of silence, who collaborate to design and build a successful engineering project.
So where do we go from here? We alter our definition of education. The education system as a whole needs to engage their biggest clientele - the students. It is time to put the blame and frustrations away, to pack up the neat and tidy text book worlds, to accept and promote failures and all that we learn from them and listen to the kids of the world.
How do you engage all learners in your classroom from the good, organized student (who, if you are being honest with yourself, was never engaged in traditional schooling but just has a large drive to please), to those at risk boys who can never seem to sit still, to the gifted learner who is never challenged, to the struggling learner who is working at a different grade level?
Well, for me, the answer comes in the form of project based learning. This has been labelled many different titles in the past years but I will to refer to it as project based learning. Not to be confused with a summative project, where I teach all the core concepts and then the student applies them at the end of the unit. No, project based learning is a process where inquiry, experimentation, research, synthesis and curriculum content are all combined at a level that is individualized for the student and ends with a purpose and audience. The student plays an integral role in monitoring their learning and challenging themselves at a level that is appropriate to them. The instruction is driven based on student needs and catered to only those students who require it.
Alright, I am going to be honest here for a minute. I started project based learning because I was frustrated. I was frustrated with giving a test and making sure I covered all of the accommodations that were stated on students' individualized education plans. I was frustrated with sitting only with the struggling students, while the middle of the road students were left to defend by themselves. I was frustrated with not having a good understanding of where my students were at until the test, at which point it was too late since the unit was over. And who is kidding who here, my ADD could not handle the quiet, row structured environment. I was bored.
Viewing the student as a learner instead of as a product of the education system alters the focus of the classroom from one where we fill empty vessels with knowledge, knowledge, knowledge to one where we nurture curiosity and develop lifelong learners. This is the path that all teachers need to find if we are to fulfill the demands of the 21st century world. This is the path that will lead the bee from one of repeated frustrations to one of limitless possibilities.